Tennis Roundup : Noah Beats Jaite to Win D.C. National

Yannick Noah overcame a sluggish start and went on to defeat Martin Jaite, 6-4, 6-3, Monday night to win the $200,000 D.C. National Bank Tennis tournament at Washington.

Noah, of France, who was seeded third, fell behind, 4-1, in the first set before taking control at the net to reel off five straight games and win the set.

Jaite, of Argentina, the tournament’s eleventh seed, was his own worst enemy in the set, making good on just 59% of his first serves, well below his tournament average of 78%.

The victory was worth $35,700 to Noah, raising his 1985 earnings to over $188,000. Jaite, 20, a runner-up last week at the U.S. Pro Championship at Brookline, Mass., received $17,850.

The seventh game featured a questionable call that was originally in Jaite’s favor. After a lengthy discussion between umpire Rich Kaufman, Noah and Jaite, the point was replayed with Noah eventually winning the point and the game.

The eight-day tournament drew a record 87,000 fans.

Laura Gildemeister upset last year’s runner-up, Lisa Bonder, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, in a women’s first-round singles match at the $575,000 U.S. Open Clay Courts tennis championships at Indianapolis.

Gildemeister, of Peru, the 21-year-old wife of touring men’s pro Hans Gildemeister and the sister of pro Pablo Arraya, used her strong forehand to pin Bonder, who had been seeded No. 9, on the baseline and pull off the first upset of a seeded player in the tournament.

Later Monday, No.10 Terry Phelps of Larchmont, N.Y., dropped a second-round match to unseeded Kate Gompert of Roswell, N.M., 6-2, 6-4.

No. 4 seeded Andra Temesvari, the 1983 champion, defeated Ginny Purdy of Indianapolis, 6-1, 6-3.

In the men’s competition, Mikael Pernfors of Sweden beat Alberto Tous of Spain, 7-5, 6-4, to earn the right to face Wimbledon champion and No. 3 seeded Boris Becker of West Germany tonight.

Third-seeded Sammy Giammalva won the first five games of the match and cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Mike DePalmer in the opening round of the $125,000 Volvo Championships at Livingston, N.J.

Earlier Monday, Tom Cain, who gained a spot in the tournament when sixth-seeded John Sadri failed to appear on time for his match, defeated Derek Tarr, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Bud Schultz of Boston defeated Rick Leach of Laguna Beach, Calif. 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

Johan Kriek is the defending champion and is top seeded in the 32-player tournament.